Falling Hard
by Serenity2012
Summary: Ginny told Charlie's friend, Darryl, that she's seeing someone, but he thinks she's lying to appease her overprotective brothers. She guesses he'll have to meet her boyfriend for himself... and suffer the consequences.


Author's Notes: I'm really starting to like doing one and two-shots.

I do not own Harry Potter.

Chapter One:

I walked through the tent they would be using for the ceremony, smacking a few low-hanging balloons along the way. Charlie was harder to spot than usual, considering half the guests had red hair, but the fact he was the lone figure by the bar helped. "Hey!" I called, clapping the groom on the shoulder. "It's a big day, buddy."

He turned around, "Darryl! You came!"

"'Course I did. This might be my one and only chance to see you dressed in a monkey suit." He had on one of the worst white tuxedos I'd ever seen. He seemed to know it too. He kept tugging at the collar like it was strangling him.

"Guess we've all got to make the transformation into husbands someday," he shrugged.

"Not me," I said, rolling up my sleeves until they showed my muscles and a couple of shiny new burns. Charlie's girl was different, but I didn't know of many others who could handle living in a dragon keep. They thought it was dangerous. "I'm kind of partial to the single life."

"Well, don't give up just yet. Cassie's got a lot of cute friends." He motioned with one finger, since he was still holding on to his Butterbeer glass.

"I'll end up checking them out, even if I don't mean to." We nodded at each other and I left to find my seat.

I found it hard to stay awake for the nuptials. There were the usual declarations, "'Til death do you part", kissing; finally, we were adjourned for cake.

That was when I spotted her. Gorgeous, maybe 20-something. Her blue dress brought attention to the bright red color of her hair and the blush on her cheeks from dancing. Before I knew what I was doing, I was standing next to her, conspicuously checking the area for signs of other male suitors.

"Hello?" she asked suspiciously, probably noticing that I was scanning the room like an idiot and not saying anything.

"Hi, I'm Darryl, Darryl Myer."

"Ginny. Ginny Weasley," she intoned, in a possible imitation of my voice. _Damn, she's Charlie's sister._ I'd mostly zoned out when he talked about his family. _Something about Quidditch._

"This is your house right?" I asked casually, "It's a great place to fly."

Her brown eyes lit up like I was Harry Potter or something. I felt a shiver go up my spine. She was unbelievably pretty. "It really is," she said, motioning to her family's pitch, "I used to spend a lot of hours playing here after my brothers left for Hogwarts."

"How about school? Did you play for your House team?"

"Yup, as a Chaser. Then I was Captain seventh year," she smiled confidently. She had reason to be. Even though I wasn't really into sports, it all sounded impressive.

Liking the rhythm of our conversation, I decided to just plunge on in, "So, hey," I said, "I'm not going back to Romania for a couple of weeks…. Would you like to come to Hogsmeade with me? We can get something to eat, check out the Quidditch shop if you really like."

Her lips came together, but before she could say anything, Charlie showed up at her elbow. "I see you guys have had a chance to talk." I could have been imagining it, but it seemed like there was a dangerous underlining tone to his voice. _I'm hitting on his sister. What did I expect?_

"Yeah," Ginny answered annoyed (at her brother or me?), "Does Mum need my help or something?" Her feet were tapping like she was antsy to get away.

"Wha? Oh, yes, she was wondering if you'd help collect the dishes. Said to tell you right away."

"Guess I'd better be off then," she turned on one stylized blue heel and disappeared through the crowd. I watched her go with a sense of longing.

"Darryl! Darryl!" Charlie snapped his fingers in front of my face to get my attention, "I don't know what you're thinking. More exactly, I don't _want_ to know what you're thinking, but you'd better stop. She's already got a boyfriend and I doubt she's on the market for another one."

I felt my jaw tighten, "You're saying they're serious?"

"Hell yeah," he stated, tying his long hair with a thin piece of leather, "Cassie and I thought they'd beat us to the alter."

I looked into his unflinching brown eyes. "Really?" It came out sounding like a challenge but I honestly didn't care.

"Really."

"Huh." I chewed on the inside of my cheek, not really buying his story, "You wouldn't just be trying to scare me off, now would you?"

"Why would I do that?" We could both think of a million reasons, but I said the one that came to my head first.

"It's just if you're so sure she's dating someone, then how come I haven't seen him around?"

"It's a big gathering. He likes to stay inconspicuous. He'll be here later once the number of people have gone down." He absently waved to some guests over my shoulder, flashing them a fake-happy grin.

"I'll believe it when I see it," I growled, before stalking away in the same direction Ginny had gone. It was no use. She was no-where to be seen and only one or two plates had been picked up.

Night descended fast. I spent a while looking up at the stars, just like I did at home. I'd always wanted to travel, to see the world, and it just blew my mind that since these stars were up so high, they got to observe everything. All the good, all the bad stuff across every country. They knew when wizards made the first wand, how Voldemort finally got destroyed. Man, they were cool.

Still, I remembered what Charlie said, and decided to scan the remaining crowd. I bumped into Ginny or her way into the house, this time catching a whiff of her flowery scent. "There you are!" I exclaimed, "You just sort of vanished."

"There were a lot of people to greet."

"And you had to meet up with your boyfriend?" I questioned. She straightened up, startled.

"Boyfriend?"

"Charlie said you had one, but I didn't believe him," she glared at me and I realized how badly that might have come across, "Not that you couldn't get one. It's just obvious that you don't. You've been flirting with me…."

Her fists balled up at the sides, "I have not! And I do have a boyfriend so you better not push it!"

"It's okay. I know your brother doesn't want us to date, but he doesn't control you, right?"

Before I knew it, my own bogeys were attacking my face, flapping around like they had bat wings. "Of course he doesn't," she shot back at me, "He knows how much it would hurt if he tried. From now on, leave me alone, arse-hole."

My eyes started stinging a little, but I was able to see it when she started talking to a tall guy with black hair. He was probably handsome enough, since I noticed more than a couple admiring girls surrounding him that he tried to shoo away in favor of Ginny, but skinny as he was, I also didn't think he'd be much competition.

As soon as I was no longer a walking billboard for Kleenex, I walked over to their table. "You Ginny's boyfriend?" I asked his back.

I could hear the smile in his voice, "Yes." Then, I saw the rest of him. Thin but well built. Green eyes. Lightning bolt scar on his forehead.

"Harry Potter?" I asked with the tiniest bit of fear. Anyone who defeated You-Know-Who had to be a powerhouse. Of all the girls in the world, I just had to go after his.

He nodded vacantly.

"I-I didn't know." I stuttered.

"Didn't know what?" he wondered, fiddling with the butt of his wand.

I gulped. "That you were who Ginny was dating."

"But when you came over here, you said…."

"I thought it was a normal bloke. Not you, not…. Geez, you're Harry Potter."

"Yeah, I know my name." He was gathering a bit of temper, "But let me get this straight. You were going to make a pass on Ginny if her boyfriend was anyone else but me."

I shifted my weight from one foot to the other. I felt like I was getting a talking to from Professor Dumbledore. He never seemed to like my attempts to glorify the name of Hufflepuff House, but I'd only ever sent small dragons at the Slytherins…. "It's not as bad as it sounds," I hedged, but I could see in his eyes, he knew I wasn't telling the truth.

"Permission to curse?" he asked Ginny. I started backing away.

"Just a small one," she said, "We don't want to ruin the party."

He huffed and black hair blew away from his forehead, "Petrificus Totalus!" Instead of just freezing up, my whole body became covered with ice and I flew across the ground 50 ft.

"Oops," Harry muttered, not sounding sorry at all, "My accidental magic's acting up again." A few of the other girls besides Ginny giggled.

"That just means you were angry," she replied, grabbing his hand.

"Of course I am. Look at him on the floor. It looks like he fell hard for you."

She stared at him for a minute, before kissing him, long and hard, "Falling is for the losers. After all the other players have toppled off their brooms, we're going to be the ones left flying."

He chuckled, "You can't say it truer than that." Then, he kissed her again. My life sucked.


End file.
